36 weeks

Here I am at 36 weeks preggo. Here are my preggy stats for this week:

• Baby's heart rate 137 beats/minute
• I have no idea what I'm measuring at because I saw the Dr. that doesn't talk to me.
• Weight: 169, so 3lbs in 2 weeks, 46 for the pregnancy.

When the nurse first weighed me, she misread the scale and said 179 and I was like "Oh gosh!", but no, not 13 lbs in 2 weeks, just the 3, I feel better.

I'm feeling more ready for the next stage. I can't wait to meet this little fella!!!!! I have the car seat out, the baby clothes all sorted, washed, and put away in drawers. I have the baby bag packed. My job for this next week is to get my bag and the kids' bag packed "just in case". Hey, I can wish to go early, can't I??

Not too many braxton hicks contractions yet. I mean, I get several a day, but it's nothing like what I've experienced the last two pregnancies. I think it's because I'm taking things easier. I'm not working, for one thing, and I'm able to stay pretty well rested.

The PTO ladies were so sweet and threw me a baby shower this last weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I was quite spoiled. Yummy food, thoughtfull friends, and cute gifts, it was wonderful. (the pic is of me right before the shower)

Sleeping is getting a little more tricky, for both John and I. John keeps reminding me "only 4 more weeks". He's been such a wonderful support, I love having a baby with him!

I BALDED MY SON!!!

(mischevious little two-year-old)

+
(scissors left out on the counter, probably by an older brother)
=


(A mostly bald two-year-old)

So, yes, Dallin found some scissors right before church yesterday and decided he wanted to give himself a hair cut. Until yesterday I had been spared the kid-cutting-own-hair experience, but Dalllin, oh Dallin, he decided it was an experience all parents should get to have.

When I asked him "Dallin, did you cut your hair???", he replied, "YES, PRETTY!!!!"


Oh dear.




So, to make it even, I had to pull out the hair trimmers, and cut it all on the lowest setting. :( My poor son looks like a cancer child. At least it's just in time for summer, so it can be disguised as a "summer hair cut". Yeah, we'll just call it that.

OWIE!!!!

John has chronic back pain from having a bone spur on his spine and a vertebrae that's 1/3 bigger on one side than it is on the other, but the last two months have been worse than they've ever been. We got some answers not too long ago, and thought I'd post about it.

His back has been in spasm, which has been pulling on his discs, causing slipped discs in his lower back. My macho husband went six weeks of pretty serious pain before he was willing to go in. He is now on muscle relaxants, an anti-inflamatory, and pain meds (which he's only taken once, but didn't like how they made him feel, so he's not taking them anymore.) He's also got a referral to a physical therapist. We're still waiting for the insurance company to approve the referral, and then hopefully we'll get some help. Despite the discomfort, he still goes to work every day, school most nights, and picks up so much of the slack around the house! I love my hard-working, non-complaining, determined husband. He's wonderful.

Anyways, since this has had a fairly decent impact on our lives the past few weeks, thought I'd blog about it. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for my man!

Preggy Stats 34 weeks

Here I am at 35 weeks. Don't mind the hair, I didn't realize it was doing something funny.

I have been bad about recording my preggy stats for the past couple of visits. Our computer died, so that's at least partly to blame. But wanted to be sure to record before I forget...

32 week appointment (2 weeks ago)
Measuring 1 week ahead, at 33 weeks
Heart beat: 156 (and boy was that baby moving! My whole tummy was rolling while the nurse was trying to find the heartbeat)
Weight: 160, gained 2 lbs from 2 weeks prior, putting me at a total of 37 lbs for the pregnancy.

34 week appointment (today)
Don't know what I'm measuring because this particular doc doesn't talk to his patients
Heart beat: 148
Weight: 166! 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks, and I bet it's all water weight, mostly from being in Mesa over the weekend (see pictures in previous post). I'm drinking tons of water in hopes that some of the swelling will go down. So, that puts me at 43 lbs for the pregnancy.

I'm feeling more ready to be done. The baby is just feeling bigger, and now that the BIG things are out of the way (finding a car that will fit everyone and of course, getting sealed - yay!), I'm just finishing things up, like pulling out baby clothes and washing them all.

My only major complaint is that I can feel the baby pushing against my bone, and it has been pretty darn uncomfortable. He'll move and it won't be so bad most of the time, but man, when he gets into the right position I can't even walk normal!

I'm excited to see what the next few weeks have in store for our family. I'm happy to have my sister Shelisa down for a week! I'm so happy to have her back in the states!

Finally Forever!

Here John and I are exiting the temple after we received our endowments. We decided to do that in the morning, have a few hours to get lunch and get the kids ready, then go back in the late afternoon to be sealed as a family. I am so glad I did it this way!

And here the family is just after getting sealed.

The kids were WONDERFUL during the sealing ceremony! I mean, they couldn't have done any better. They sat quietly beaming from ear to ear, doing exactly what they were supposed to do. They each understood what was going on, at their own level. Such an AMAZING experience. I am so happy to be sealed to such a great crew!

Below are the cute kiddo-stories about the day.

Cory was a little sick. He had a fever and just felt lousy in general. Just after the sealing someone came up to him and said, "Oh, Cory, you just don't feel well, do you?" His reply? "No, but it's ok, I feel good inside."

Bryson was OVERJOYED by the experience. After the sealing his comment was "I wish this day could last FOREVER!!!!" This expressions says it all!

And Dallin....oh, what a little boy!!! He did just just beautifully during the ceremony. Just before the kids were brought in, the sealer said to not worry if the kids didn't quite do everything they were asked to, sometimes they just don't, but it's ok. I figured Dallin would sit for a moment and then run around the room. But no, he sat perfectly still with a gigantic smile on his face the entire time. BUT....after the ceremony we were asked to move to the other side of the room, and for Dallin, the quickest way to get to the other side of the room was to climb over the alter. Sooo, that's what he did. It was hilarious and sweet. We love our little Dal!!

Here we are walking the temple grounds on Friday (the day before our BIG day). These are my boys, I LOVE 'em!

We had a LOT of family come out to Mesa for the day to share the experience with us. It was so fun having a happy excuse to get everyone together. I only snapped a few pictures (so sad!), so the next few pictures are just a few of the family members that came (I think we had between 60-70 show up!). I really wish I had gotten more pics of who was there, there were some people there who really helped out a lot, and I wish I'd gotten them in some of the pics. Maybe I'll snag some off someone elses camera and have another post!

We reserved the church across the street for most of the day so we could go in and out. My sister-in-law and her husband (Jess and Jaron) were so sweet and did a lunch for us after the endowment session. Then we went back for the sealing, and my parents had a catered Mexican dinner waiting for us. After the dinner my brother blessed his baby. It was a full day!!

Here's John with his siblings:

from right to left: Kim, Christy, Megan, Josh, Chase - the kiddo, and John.

My dad and his brother, Brian, and in the background Tyler, my nephew.

John and I with Aunt Nan (John's aunt), and uncle Dick.

Here I am (in all my puffy preggy glory) with Cory right before we went to the temple together. Because of his sensitivity to new clothes, he got his own temple clothes, so here he is "half" dressed.

Dallin being stinkin' cute...

Bryson and I after the sealing. I swelled REALLY bad with the heat that afternoon. Ah well, whatcha gonna do?

Jason, Alissa, and baby Kali after the baby blessing. It's a horrible shot, but don't they make the cutest family ever???

Here's the group of men in the circle for the baby blessing. I don't know all of their names, but I know Zane Avalos, my hubby, Bro. Tyler (Alissa's dad), my dad, my Grandpa Goates, and of course, Jason and Kali.

My grandpa holding little Kali.



My hermana Reenie with Cory, Bryson, and Jacob (John's brother)

Dallin eating cake after dinner. Ooooh, that was some seriously good food!

Reenie playing with Cory. You may notice the gap in Cory's teeth - that's not usually there, his tooth is SOO loose that it won't stay in the same place, it just kind of wanders. Maybe the next blog post will be him with a little toothless grin. :)

Our newest addition

Nope, not THIS baby (although I WISH!!)

THIS baby.

We've spent the past several weekends up in Tucson car shopping, trying to find something that would fit us all when the baby comes. We were very picky about what we wanted, and are very grateful to have found what we were looking for in the time frame we needed.

It's a 2006 Chevy TrailBlazer with the third row seating. The kids LOVE it, and so do me and John.